User manual GAMES PC STARS!

[. . . ] STARS! The Premiere Space Strategy Game PLAYER'S GUIDE http://www. webmap. com/stars!rec. games. computer. stars II COPYRIGHT AND CREDITS Design and Programming Addtional Programming Producer Graphics Music Sound Effects Intro Documentation Technical Advice Playtesting Jeff McBride and Jeff Johnson Jeffery Krauss Brian Walker Eric Chang, Michael Miller, Michael Reichmann, Emblazon Multimedia Emil Herceg at Arte Wisdom Mahendra Sampath Minds Eye Kurt Kremer, Brett Kremer David Pugh Bill Bolosky, Dave Buchtal, Kent Cedota, Daniel Chenault, Paul Enfield, Michael Grier, William Herlan, Peter Henriksen, Peter Horodan, Brent Jensen, Mark Kenworthy, Stu Klingman, Steve Kruy, Robert Lamb, Jim Lane, John LeVee, Hilton Lange, Chris McBride, Jeff McCashland, Beth Moursund, Chris Noon, Tony Pacheco, Chris Peltz, Tony Reynolds, Jenifer Schlickbernd, Eric Snapper, Andrew Sterian, Jeff Stone, Richard Sun, David Thiel, Brad Thompson, Thomas Voigt, Ross Youngs Special Thanks To. . . Packaging Design and Artwork Production Sam Belcher, Peter Celella Sharon O'Neill Antony Bond, Gary Lucken © 1996 Entertainment International (UK) Ltd. Published by Empire Interactive CONTENTS Welcome 1-1 GETTING STARTED Single Player Setup 2-1 Playing the Tutorial 2-1 Starting a Single Player Game 2-2 Setting and Viewing Winning Conditions 2-3 Multi-Player Setup 3-1 Setting Up a Single Computer, Multi-Player (Hot Seat) Game 3-1 Setting Up Network-based Multi-Player Games 3-4 Setting Up Modem, FTP, and Play by E-mail Games 3-7 Setting and Viewing Winning Conditions 3-9 Adding Expansion Players 3-10 Being Absent from Play 3-11 Finding Multi-Player Games on the Internet 3-12 Passwords 3-12 Using a Timer Application? [. . . ] ¯ Click on the row for that fleet in the Fleet Summary Report. NAMING FLEETS 1. The new name appears in the Fleet tile and anywhere else you'd expect the name to be displayed. MANAGING FLEETS 10-5 You can use either the new name or the fleet number when Finding a fleet. Other players cannot see the names you have given your fleets. USING FUEL Fuel is a manufactured commodity made of anti-matter and is measured in milligrams (mg). This means it has little effect on the ship's mass (and thus, fuel usage). Fuel can only be obtained from starbases with ship building capability or from other fleets. It is also created by ships traveling at their engine's free speed, by fuel tankers and by ships with Anti-Matter Generators. The fuel capacity of a fleet is the sum of the fuel capacity for each ship in the fleet. The rate at which fuel is used is based partially on the mass of all ships and cargo in the fleet. Fuel usage is also based on the rate at which each ship in the fleet uses fuel at a given speed. All ship types can move at any speed, but they each burn different amounts of fuel to achieve that speed. The total fuel usage for the fleet is the sum of the fuel usage for all the individual ships. Ship_fuel_usage = (ship_mass x efficiency x distance / 200 + 9) / 10 Fuel usage between waypoints is shown in the Fleet Waypoints tile. The amount shown for reaching the selected waypoint is always exact. Estimated Fuel Usage for travel from the current waypoint to the fleet named Perfect Logic #163, with speed set to Warp 8. Sometimes Slowing Down Uses More Fuel Each year's travel is a separate jump that uses a finite, countable number of milligrams of fuel. Let's say that you have a fleet that can travel at warp 5 for 3mg per year of travel. If you slowed down to warp 4 it would only cost 2mg per year of travel but the journey would take 7 years for a total of 14mg of fuel. This is a case where it is more economical to go at the faster speed. 10-6 PLAYING STARS ! Refueling To refuel, simply visit one of your planets with a starbase with ship building capability in orbit. Fuel can also be transferred between fleets manually or with a Transport waypoint task. Tip: Since fuel is shared by the entire fleet, you can help guarantee that a ship with a low fuel capacity reaches its destination by merging it into a fleet with a large fuel capacity. Fuel and Combat Ships don't use fuel while in combat. Fuel Transports Fuel transports produce 200 mg of fuel each year, regardless of how far they travel. Tip: Fuel transports also cause damaged ships in the same fleet to heal 5 or 10% faster, depending on the hull type of the fuel transport. Fuel and Ramscoop Engines Ramscoop engines draw fuel from surrounding space, allowing them to travel up to a certain speed at no cost. If you load fuel on a fleet using ramscoop engines and set a speed greater than that allowed for free travel, the fleet will travel at the set speed until it runs out of fuel, then slow to the maximum free speed for that ramscoop. Traveling at speeds below the maximum free speed can generate even more fuel. Fuel, Stargates and Wormholes Ships don't use fuel while traveling through a stargate or a wormhole. Only races with the Interstellar Traveler trait can take cargo through stargates. Fuel does not count as cargo when passing through a stargate. Speed for Free Each type of engine has a different maximum speed for travel without using Fuel. See the Engines section of the Technology Browser for more information. Running Out of Fuel (Well, Nearly) Even the best of us occasionally runs out of gas. [. . . ] The ship with the highest initiative fires first. LOAD OPTIMAL Transport order. This option can only calculate the amount of fuel required for one waypoint. It will not attempt to load enough fuel to get you beyond your next waypoint. MAXIMUM SHIP DESIGNS AND SHIPS 16 different ship designs at one time, and up to 32, 000 ships of each design in a fleet. MINE Mines bring minerals to the surface of your planets, where they are used in production. GL-4 BACK OF THE BOOK MINERAL ALCHEMY You will be able to turn resources into minerals. One instance of mineral alchemy will use 100 resources to produce one kT of each mineral - or only 25 resources for players with the Mineral Alchemy trait. [. . . ]